Belated Kinney birthday entry

Oops... we forgot to celebrate Kinney's birthday yesterday. I think rvrjoe775 and I were mixing it up with perkk's birthday tomorrow. And yes, Kinney is a sister of perkk's Gwenivere.

Kinney is our 8-year-old Rottweiler (or is she 9 now... I'm not sure). It used to be that her biggest concern was "when are you going to feed me???" Now her biggest concern is "when are you going to give me more water???" Since becoming diabetic earlier this year, she has lost a lot of weight, gone blind, and become a pin cushion (insulin shots). She rarely sleeps through the night anymore, typically waking us up once or twice a night to get water and to go outside. She tried ignoring her once and then woke up to a kiddy pool sized puddle in the kitchen (she's a big dog with a big bladder).

Other than her medical issues, she's still a happy dog. With the warmer weather we've been able to take them out into the front yard to play more. Even though Kinney can't really see the frisbee (she can see a little bit), she will pounce on it if she hears it land near her. She was never very good at catching frisbee anyway, and worse about bringing them back.

Gabby is still her nemesis. With Kinney's vision problems she constantly steps on Gabby who has conveniently laid down right in Kinney's path. This is really just Gabby's excuse to yell and scream at Kinney... to show who the real bitch in the house is. Other than stepping on Gabby, Kinney is able to navigate around the house pretty well.

Personal Trainers, and a bit about my car

What do you guys think about personal trainers?

I met with one of the trainers at Northwest last night, mainly to get a complimentary program orientation. She really encouraged me to go for additional training sessions, which of course cost me money. Yes, I realize that she was trying to do the up-sale, but I've nearly talked myself into thinking that this would be a good idea for me. The only problem is the cost.

$70 per individual session
about $500 if I book 8 sessions
about $750 if I book 12 sessions
and about $1400 if I book 24 session

In my head I'm thinking that this would be like taking a class... except I'm the only student. I'm hoping that this might be enough to change my habits and actually get my body in motion (a body in motion tends to stay in motion).

Maybe I'll just start with the 8 sessions... I can afford that now (more or less). I'm feeling tight on money lately due to the hit and run on my car.

Oh... that reminds me. My car is back from the autobody shop now. Everything looks great, though it smells slightly of paint. The total came out to be about $3580, $500 of which I cover with my deductible.

Back to personal trainers... Anyone have any suggestions or alternatives? Can anyone recommend someone else in the Twin Cities that I should work with? I don't need go to Northwest... its just the gym I belong to.